About
My group examines the evolutionary origins of the human mind. How do our primate relatives think about the world, are their psychological abilities are similar to or different from our own, and why do some species differ in their cognitive abilities? Our research uses a comparative approach drawing on evolutionary theory, cognitive science, and developmental psychology to understand how complex cognitive traits emerge within species over ontogeny, and between species over evolutionary time. We are especially focused on capacities supporting decision-making, executive control, and social cognition. To do this work, we study a variety of semi-free-ranging ape, monkey, and lemur populations.
Representative publications
- Rosati, A.G., DiNicola, L., & Buckholtz, J.W. (in press). Chimpanzee cooperation is fast, and independent from self-control. Psychological Science.
- Rosati, A.G. (2017). Foraging cognition: reviving the ecological intelligence hypothesis. Trends in Cognitive Sciences.
- Rosati, A.G. & Santos, L.R. (2017). Tolerant Barbary macaques maintain juvenile levels of social attention into old age, but despotic rhesus macaques do not. Animal Behaviour.
- Rosati, A.G. & Hare, B. (2016). Reward type modulates human risk preferences. Evolution and Human Behavior.
- Rosati, A.G., Arre, A.M, Platt, M.L., & Santos, L.R. (2016). Rhesus monkeys show human-like changes in gaze following across the lifespan. Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
